A multi-million dollar announcement came out of New Brunswick today with two licensed producers (LPs) supplying cannabis to the entire province once adult-use marijuana is legal.
Organigram is based in Moncton, New Brunswick’s largest city, and they will be allocating approximately 25 percent of their production to support the adult-use market. The LP has committed to supplying the Atlantic province with 5 million grams of pot per year, at an estimated retail value of $40-$60 million annually.
If that news isn’t big enough, New Brunswick has made a similar deal with the world’s largest marijuana producer, Canopy Growth Corporation. The two-year deal will have Canopy supplying a further 4 million grams of marijuana and its derivative products in the first year alone.
“Today we take the next step towards the future of cannabis in New Brunswick with a truly historic MOU [memorandum of understanding],” said Canopy Growth President Mark Zekulin.
Although this MOU with Canopy and Organigram is definite progress towards the end goal of cannabis sales in New Brunswick, little is known about how the province will sell marijuana.
In a press conference today, Finance Minister Cathy Rogers said that a retail model for selling marijuana in New Brunswick has not yet been decided upon, but the provincial government has created a Crown corporation to oversee pot sales.
“This new Crown corporation will ensure that health and safety remain the top priority,” said NB Health Minister Benoit Bourque.
The province clarified that other producers would likely be added to the supply chain in the future, but the initial supply will be coming from these two LPs.
New Brunswick is the second province to release details on the upcoming distribution method for cannabis ahead of the July 2018 legalization deadline. The Province of Ontario announced last week that it will be handling the retail sales of marijuana through its own government corporation, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO).
credit:marijuana.com
